Understanding
by eskalations
Summary: Sometimes it was just nice to have someone understand what she was going through, someone who could help her work through the things she would rather run from.


A/N: A really random oneshot, please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Tangled" or it's characters, they belong to Disney.

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><p>He sometimes found her sitting alone on the roof right outside of her window. It was usually in the morning, before the happy breakfast charade she had to put on for her parents, before the feigned understanding she had to fake for her tutors, before she had to be the princess of Corona.<p>

In the mornings out here, she was just Rapunzel.

He watched from behind her white satin curtains, the sea breeze ruffling his deep brown hair and stinging his hazel eyes slightly. Her green dress which made her eyes look even brighter than before gently wrapped around her legs as the wind picked up, blowing her short brown hair every which way. She was curled up with her arms around her legs and her chin on her knees, just like she was every morning.

The look on her face nearly broke his heart all together, a heart that could only ever belong to her. Those eyes that usually held so much life, were a dull green as she stared off into the rising sun, those pale hands usually so dainty and graceful, played nervously with the end off her dress, and her cheeks that usually were pink like the color of the breaking dawn in the morning, were nearly as peach as the rest of her. This was Rapunzel now.

This was all that was left of that girl he had discovered in the tower, some number of months ago. This was the girl who swung around a tree trunk, exclaiming because she had finally found her freedom. This was the girl that he had fallen in love with in just a few days, and to be honest, he had fallen for her even more after they had come to the castle.

"I didn't understand." Rapunzel whispered as she grasped her legs even tighter within her arms, her round face bowing into her fabric as she tried to hide the emotions it showed. She knew he was there, she always knew.

"Blondie, that's what learning is suppose to be like. There are plenty of lessons that I don't understand in my classes." His boots scratched against the tile as he hoisted himself through the window and onto the pannels that lined the roof. The kingdom was now bathed in a pinkish glow as the sun continued to rise over the tops of the forest trees.

Rapunzel turned her face slightly to the man sitting beside her, tears already welling up in front of her big emerald orbs. "Eugene, they expect me to understand." Her voice was still quiet, and he could hear the pure disappointment that filled her voice, and her heart.

Eugene lifted his arm and wrapped it as gently as he could around her slender shoulders, pulling her gently toward the cocoon of his arms as he sighed, "Rapunzel, they do not expect that from you, they know you havn't been exposed to the real world for very long." His calloused hand gently began to rub up and down her arm, from shoulder to elbow.

The princess stared off into the sunrise, leaning against him as her body slowly began to relax while her face muscles couldn't, her clenched jaw and clenched fist still straining with frustration. "Eugene, I'm not happy here."

The man nodded, he knew that. He could tell that the castle life had caused her to lose the bounce that used to be in her step, the life that used to show whenever she would laugh, and ultimately the joy that used to show whenever she discovered something new. Here, they expected her to already know the things they did, never giving her the delight of a new discovery.

"I don't know what to do, I don't know how much more of this I can handle. I left one tower only to get stuck within the walls of another, except this one I don't have the pleasure of doing what I want, it's what everybody else wants," She looked up at him, and he saw the pleading in her eyes, the desperation in her voice, "Please Eugene, please tell me there is something we can do, somewhere where we can go where it is just me and you, the way I thought it would be when we arrived here."

Eugene sat for a moment, shocked by the sheer passion that was in her voice. She just wanted to be with him, not with her parents, not with her kingdom, just with him. Being a thief, he had become accoustomed to not being wanted well except by the guard, so with that his heart swelled with pride despite the situation.

"Rapunzel, life's not like that, you can't just always run from your problems," He was trying to say this as gently as he could as her hopeful eyes looked up into his chestnut ones," Trust me when I say in the long run, you will be happy that we stayed."

The princess just stared up at him, then look down at her knees trying her best not to let the tears run down her face. Without saying a word she just nodded her head.

Sitting there, with his arm wrapped around the girl he loved, Eugene knew this moment would be the best to say the words he had wanted to say for awhile. "Hey, Blondie?"

She looked up at him, the tears almost gone from her eyes, and the color returning to her cheeks, "Yes, Eugene."

He grinned down at her like an idiot, his hand tightening around her tiny shoulder, "I love you."

She couldn't help the grin that seemed to light up her face as she unwrapped her arms from her legs and hugged him tightly around the middle, a hug he was glad to return.

"Oh Eugene, I love you too."

Though, they would have a conversation early in the morning just like the one that day multiple more times, they would always end with telling eachother just how much they mattered to the other.

That's Eugene and Rapunzel. No facade, no fake understand, just a changed man and a young woman absolutely, hopelessly in love.


End file.
